1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hair setting composition, and more particularly, to a hair setting composition containing as an effective component polyethylene glycol having an average molecular weight of 6,000-30,000. Such a hair setting composition may be formulated into an aerosol type or lotion or pump spray type and facilitates long-lasting hair styling without damaging hair.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For the setting of hair styles in beauty saloon or at home, there are known a method in which hair is wound around curlers or rods to form curls or waves and then set a hair style by brushing and a method in which hair is washed and any excess water is wiped off, after which the hair style is set with a brush while drying the hair by a dryer. In these cases, it is general to make use of a hair setting composition.
A hair setting composition is used to facilitate setting of hair style, to keep the hair style long, and to prevent the hair from being damaged and protect it from brushing during the course of the setting of the hair style. Conventionally, setting lotions, hair sprays, hair creams, hair oils and the like have been employed for these purposes.
Setting lotions and hair sprays are primarily composed of resins such as polyvinylpyrrolidone, vinyl acetate copolymers and the like. Where these lotions or sprays are used for the setting of hair style, they show the following disadvantages though exhibiting to a certain extend holding effect of finished hair style: Hair becomes stiff or dry and is felt bad when touched; so-called flaking is caused in which the resin deposited on the hair comes off in pieces by brushing, rendering the gloss of hair poor; and the resin deposited on hair surfaces does not permit easy brushing or combing, resulting in damaged hair.
On the other hand, hair cosmetics for hair conditioning such as hair creams, hair oils and the like are mainly composed of oily ingredients such as liquid paraffin, olive oil and the like and have no drawbacks of causing stiffness, flaking and the like on hair. However, they show very little or no effects in facilitating setting of hair style and holding the finished hair style as required for the hair setting composition.
As described above, none of conventionally available setting lotions, hair sprays, hair creams and hair oils have been found satisfactory as hair setting compositions. Though the mechanism of developing the setting effect of hair has not been completely solved, its principal concept is considered to be as follows. That is, the physical and chemical action of water takes an effective part in the formation of hair style. When hair is wetted, the hydrogen bonds in keratin of hair are broken. Then, when hair is styled by a hair dryer or brush or is wound using curlers or rods, hydrogen bonds are formed at locations different from the previous ones and the hair style is thus set.
In this connection, however, where hair is set by the use of water alone, the hair style gradually gets out of shape through the absorption of water by the hair and by gravity as time goes on and does not last long time, thus needing use of a certain hair setting composition. Thus, the present inventors have made an intensive study to provide a hair setting composition which meets the above requirements. As a result, it has been found that polyethylene glycol of a specific type shows excellent effects in facilitating hair styling and keeping it without damaging the hair and that such effects are synergistically increased when using it in combination with a divalent or trivalent metal salt of pyrrolidonecarboxylic acid and/or a polyoxyalkylene-added silicone oil, thus arriving at the completion of the present invention.